We hope that this letter finds you all doing well. We are glad that 1998 is over, and we look forward to a much better 1999. This has been yet another interesting year for us. We had planned on Heather finishing school and making some waves on the national and international cycling scene. Unfortunately, neither of these things happened.
Heather spent the winter semester as a lab instructor for molecular biology. She enjoyed the experience, but it took a great deal of her time. She was also preparing for her Ph.D. written comprehensive exams (24 hours of written tests). The good news is that she passed with flying colors. Unfortunately, she still has to take her oral exam and publish two papers.
Due to the time constraints of studying for major exams, she didn’t compete on the national circuit until the end of May. When she did, she discovered that something was drastically wrong with her. She could not compete at the level she had when she first started racing. In July she was diagnosed with pneumonia in her right lung, remember last year it was her left lung. After many months and several doctors later, she is a health care frequent flyer, they finally diagnosed that it was the lingering effects from last year’s viral infection. The doctor feels that she should return to her full health within a year. She is getting better, but she still has her bad days.
Uhl had a busy year at work. However, he still managed to oversee the weekly Intel group mountain bike rides. This year, there was a core group of four people, with some weeks attracting more riders. Uhl is doing his part to spread the word about mountain biking. Living here in Utah, with the beautiful mountains, everyone should mountain bike…and ski! Uhl has been getting into downhill skiing more this year, even though the snow gods haven’t been that generous to Utah…yet. Hopefully, the weather patterns will change for the rest of the winter!
Even though his training partner wasn’t feeling that well, Uhl managed to be competitive in mountain biking and road racing. He had a top ten finish in mountain biking, and in road racing, he showed that he could time trial. He set up a new time trial bike and adjusted his position to be very aerodynamic. It paid off with a second-place finish at the District Championships and a second-place finish at the Cache Valley Classic stage race, in which the time trial was the deciding stage.
Our big trip of the year was when we went back to New York for Christmas to see Uhl’s family. They actually had a white Christmas in New York, the first one in five years! We spent lots of time with family and was a wonderful trip.
We would love to hear from you. We are much better at correspondence through e-mail than through letters. If you are connected, please drop us a line!